Walcott awaiting more bruises and kicks at Belarus

Theo Walcott had an occasionally torrid time in England's World Cup qualifying win over Kazakhstan and expects more tough challenges at Belarus on Wednesday. The 19-year-old Arsenal winger was unable to make the same impact of scoring a hat trick at Croatia last month, but still showed enough flashes of speed and skill in Saturday's 5-1 win over Kazakhstan to suggest his starring role in Zagreb will not be an isolated incident. He was marked tightly by Kazakhstan's defense and constantly ushered into wide areas. With opponents now mindful of the three goals he hit while breaking from midfield against Croatia, Walcott is prepared for more of the same in Minsk. "Hopefully, I'll do a bit more in Belarus," Walcott said. "The good thing was I was getting a lot of free kicks — defenders kicking me as I got past them. "I expect... [read full story]